Soap dish



Dec. 13, 1949 T. 1". DOMECKI SOAP DISH 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1, 1946 Dec. 13, 1949 "r. T. DQMECKI SOAP DISH Filed Nov. 1, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I I l I I I IIIIIIII IIIIIII I Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to receptacles and specifically to a novel buoyant soap dish.

The advantages of floating soap in the bath or washroom are so apparent that some soap manufacturers attribute their prominent places in the industry to the buoyant character of their products. First, a floating soap is handy and convenient and eliminates the necessity of a search when it slips into the bath or wash bowl. Second, a floating soap does not present the personal injury hazard occasioned by a non-floating soap bar, which drops to the bottom of a tub and often causes serious injuries when the bather steps on the bar. However, such floating soaps are wasteful in that they are rapidly consumed when placed in the water, and their advantages are seriously offset by their lack of economy in use.

It is an object of the invention to reconcile the conflicting requirements of economy and buoyancy by providing an improved floating soap dish, having such operation that the advantages of floating and the economies of non-floating soap are at once enjoyed.

Those skilled in the soap receptacle art are aware that various attempts to provide a commercially practical buoyant soap dish have been made. It is an object of the invention to provide such a dish which is of stable and general utility, whether employed as a floating dish or as a stationary dish placed on the side of a tub or the like. Prior-art dishes have not possessed these desirable characteristics and have been specifically directed to floating use, being unstable and improperly designed for universal use. Further, such dishes generally require weighting flanges and the like, which greatly increase their cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a soap dish which can be very cheaply manufactured in quantity, making it particularly suitable as a premium to be given to purchasers by marketing agencies of non-floating soap, whereby they can overcome the competitive advantages of the floating soap manufacturers and vendors.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a soap dish which can be economically made from one piece of material.

Other objects contemplate the providing of a soap dish which has an attractive appearance, which utilizes a minimum of space, which saves soap and renders it readily available, and which has an appeal to children.

Other objects and capabilities of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, in which there are shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and two modified forms.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of soap dish in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of soap dish in accordance with the invention;

Figs. 2 and 4 are sectional views taken on lines 22 and 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 3, respectively; and

' Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are sectional, fragmentary development and development views, showing a one-piece construction of soap dish having a shape similar to that of the Fig. 3 dish.

The dish [0 is preferably made of celluloid or some transparent or semi-transparent plastic material. Its construction is very simple and economical. The Fig. 1 embodiment is generally rectangular in contour, with rounded corners. It comprises a rectangular base member H, a continuous member l2 having integral side portions [3, l4 and integral end portions (l5 being shown in Fig. 1), and a top member I6 formed with a generally rectangular aperture. Projecting through this aperture to the base member I l is a continuous generally rectangular cup member ll. Flange N3 of top member [6 is cemented to member I2 at l9. Flange 20 of cup member I! is cemented to top member H5 at 2|. Flange 22 of cup member I1 is cemented to base member II at 23. The bottom portion 24 of the side member 12 is cemented to base member II at 25. All cemented joints are water-tight so that there is defined a Water-tight air compartment 26, surrounding the soap receptacle provided by base II and cup ll. This air compartment is located entirely outwardly from and has the same depth as the soap compartment. The air compartment bottoms are substantially continuous with base I l and function to provide a large stabilizing or bearing area when the dish I0 is placed on the side of a tub or the like. When the dish is placed in the water of a tub or the like, the air compartment functions to provide the desired buoyancy and no keel or weighting flange is required.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there is shown a modified form of soap dish comprising a generally rectangular soap receptacle 28, side members 29 and 30, end members 21 and 3| and corner members 32- 35, all made of Celluloid or a suitable preferably transparent plastic material. The air compartment 36 has a triangular cross section and surrounds the soap receptacle 28. The flanges of the side and end members are water-tightly sealed to receptacle 28, as indicated at 31, 38, 39,

3 40. Also the corner members are water-tightly sealed in place.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show how a soap dish having the shape shown in Fig. 3 is made from one piece of material. The various portions have the same numerals primed as the elements having the same positions in the Fig. 3-4 embodiment. The material is first cut to the shape shown in Fig. 7, then folded in the manner shown in Fig. 6 to the final shape illustrated in Fig. 5. Then the portions are cemented, securing together edges 43, 44, 45, 4B, 41, 48, 49 and 50. Finally edges 5|, 52, 53 and 54 are cemented together and the water-tight air chamber 36 is closed by cementing at 4| and 42. The manufacture of the dish involves very simple punching, folding and cementing operations, so that the dish can be rapidly produced in great quantities for a very small unit cost.

While there have been shown and described what are at present considered to be the pre= ferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made without departing from the teachings of the invention and the proper scope thereof and it is accordingly intended in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true scope of the invention and outside of the scope of the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A buoyant soap dish comprising asingle 4 sheet of thin water-proof foldable material, having a rectangular center portion with rectangular side tabs along each side and rectangular end tabs along each end; each of said tabs being scored at the point of intersection with the central rectangular portion of the dish and having additional scoring dividing each tab into three substantially equal parallel strips, the tabs being folded angularly upwardly, backwardly and downwardly whereby they form a closed air chamber; together with diamond-shaped corner tabs scored across their center and joined to the edges of adjacent pairs of end and side tabs to close the air chamber and form a single continuous chamber extending entirely around the dish.

THEODORE T. DOMECKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 991,348 Hendrich May 9, 1911 1,209,074 Thieme Dec. 19, 1916 1,357,742 Stevens Nov. 2, 1920 1,690,591 Nelthorpe Nov. 6, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 111,530 Switzerland Aug. 17, 1925 

